Solid Steel Card Clothing

ABSTRACT

A clothing wire for clothed elements for use in textile machines includes a root, and a blade, the root and blade having an overall combined wire height (h 1 ) of 1.5 mm to 15 mm. The clade includes teeth having a tooth depth (h 6 ) of 0.5 mm to 10 mm, and having a tooth pitch (p) of 1.5 mm to 15 mm. Viewed in a first working direction of the clothing wire, the teeth have a first tip with a first working angle (α), and viewed in a second working direction of the clothing wire, the teeth have a second tip with a second working angle (β). At each tooth, the first tip is joined to the second tip via a concave tip face. A height difference (E) of 0.02 mm to 0.5 mm is defined between the second tip and the first tip.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an all-steel clothing for clothed elements of openers, cleaners, carders, or carding machines.

BACKGROUND

All-steel clothings are used in various areas in the processing of textile fibers. The present invention relates to a clothing wire for use on clothed elements such as plates, profile rods, or rollers in fiber-processing processes. When used on rollers, the clothing wire in the form of a sawtooth all-steel clothing is wound onto the roller in a helical shape with the clothing wires closely adjacent to one another, or in grooves. When used on plates or profile rods, the clothing wire is cut into wire segments corresponding to the dimensions of the plates or profile rods, and the clothing wires are mounted closely adjacent to one another on the surface of the plates or profile rods. Common forms of sawtooth all-steel clothings are given in International Standard ISO 5234. According to the standard, all-steel clothings are characterized, among other criteria, by their working angle α, their tooth pitch p, and the tooth depth h₆, the overall height of the wire h₁, and the blade width at the tip b₃. The working angle α is the angle between the front face and the vertical axis of the wire base; the front face, viewed in the direction of movement, represents the front tooth face. If the working angle is 0°, the front face is thus perpendicular to or vertical with respect to the wire base.

In the fiber-processing processes such as opening and cleaning fibers or fiber tufts, great demands, in particular with regard to wear resistance, are imposed on the all-steel clothings. In particular, the clothings experience high wear stress when used in recycling machines, in which woven or knitted fabrics are broken down into their individual fibers. In the process, high forces act on the individual teeth of a clothing, resulting in short-term wear on the teeth. If the teeth are excessively worn down, the clothed element must be replaced or provided with a new clothing wire. The periodic need to replace a clothing wire thus determines the maintenance interval for a particular element. For example, clothed elements such as carding segments in the inlet area, viewed in the direction of fiber flow, wear out quickly. If they are not replaced within predefined maintenance intervals, losses in quality result for the processed fibers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a clothing wire which allows prolonged maintenance intervals for the elements fitted with this clothing wire. Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.

The objects are achieved by the features of the clothing wire described and claimed herein.

In order to achieve the objects, a clothing wire for clothed elements for use in textile machines is proposed, wherein the clothing wire is made up of a root and a blade having an overall wire height h₁ of 1.5 mm to 15 mm. The overall height h₁ of the wire is preferably 2 mm to 12 mm, particularly preferably 7.5 mm. The blade is provided with teeth having a tooth depth h₆ of 0.5 mm to 10 mm; the tooth depth h₆ is preferably 1 mm to 6 mm, particularly preferably 4.5 mm. The clothing wire has a tooth pitch p of 1.5 mm to 15 mm; the tooth pitch p is preferably 2 mm to 12 mm, particularly preferably 10 mm (corresponding to 2.5 tips per inch). The teeth are formed in such a way that, viewed in a first working direction, they have a first tip with a first working angle, and viewed in a second working direction, have a second tip with a second working angle, and the first tip is joined to the second tip via a concave tip face. A concave formation is understood to mean a recess between the first tip and the second tip that is oriented in the direction of the root. The recess may be designed, for example, as a semicircular indentation or as an essentially rectangular depression.

In use, for clothed elements in the form of rollers, the upper areas, and for clothed elements in the form of rods or plates, the lower areas, having the indicated dimensions are used. One reason is that in recycling machines primarily rollers are used, which are subjected to very high load and are therefore equipped with heavier clothing wires compared to clothed elements in the form of rods or plates, which are more preferably used in fiber-processing machines. A clothing wire for clothed elements in the form of rollers advantageously has an overall height h₁ of 5 mm to 15 mm, a tooth depth h₆ of 3 mm to 10 mm, and a tooth pitch of 3 mm to 15 mm.

Due to this advantageous geometry, it is possible to use the clothing wire in a first working direction, and also in a second working direction opposite to the first working direction. When the clothing wire is helically wound onto a roller, this corresponds to the use of the same clothing wire in one or the other rotational directions of the roller. The clothing wire may be further used in the second working direction simply by rotating the clothed elements on the clothings which are mounted on the elements.

The second tip is advantageously designed with a slightly smaller tooth depth compared to the first tip. The lower tooth depth results from a smaller height of the tooth or a lower overall height of the clothing wire at the location of the second tip. That is, the remaining blade height from the tooth base to the blade is unchanged over the entire tooth base. When the first tips are used in the first working direction, wear on the second tips is thereby avoided at the same time. Thus, after the first tips wear down, the second tips are still like new for use of the clothing wire in the second working direction. There is a height difference of 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm, preferably 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm, between the second tips and the first tips.

In one preferred embodiment, the first working angle and the second working angle are between −10° and 30°. The first and the second working angles, adapted to the intended use, may in fact be different. It is conceivable that a tougher clothing is necessary for a first working direction than for a second working direction. The so-called toughness of a clothing increases with an increasing working angle. Teeth having a large working angle engage more forcefully with the fiber material to be processed.

In one particularly preferred design, the first working angle and the second working angle are equal. The clothing wire thus always has the same toughness, regardless of the working direction or the rotational direction of the roller.

It has been found to be advantageous when the clothing wire has a tooth length of 2.5 mm to 7.5 mm, preferably 3 mm to 5 mm, particularly preferably 3.5 mm, from the first tip to the second tip. The tooth length has a significant effect on whether unintended wear on the second tip results during use of the first tip. The concave shape of the tip face, which facilitates the fiber movement, also counteracts wearing down of the second tip during use of the first tip in a first working direction. A tip face having a radius of 1.5 mm to 7 mm has been found to be advantageous. The radius of the tip face is to be appropriately coordinated with the tooth length.

The blade width b₃ at the tips is appropriately adapted to the high load on the clothing wire. The clothing wire has a blade width b₃ of 0.05 mm to 1.5 mm at the first and second tips; the blade width b₃ at the tips is preferably 0.7 mm to 0.9 mm, particularly preferably 0.8 mm. A clothing wire for use in a clothed element in the form of a roller has a blade width b₃ of 0.1 mm to 1.5 mm at the first and second tips.

The tooth base radius is likewise to be selected according to the use of the clothing wire; a relatively large tooth base radius contributes to the avoidance of clogging of the tooth base with fibers, dirt, or fabric residues. The tooth base radius for the first tip is 0.3 mm to 4.0 mm, preferably 2.0 mm to 3.0 mm. The tooth base radius for the second tip is advantageously equal to the tooth base radius for the first tip.

The clothing wire may be designed with a normal, interlocking, or concatenated root to allow winding even onto a smooth roller or into grooves.

The clothing wire is particularly suited for clothed elements or rollers of textile machines, for example openers and cleaners or cotton cards or roller carding machines. When the clothing wire is used on a roller, it is helically wound. When this roller has a symmetrical design, after the first tips of the clothing wire have worn down the roller may be rotated in order to make use of the second tips of the clothing wire. Thus, the operating time that elapses before it is necessary to replace the clothing of a corresponding roller is doubled. The same principle applies for use of the clothing wire on plates or profile rods.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below with reference to one exemplary embodiment, and is explained in greater detail by use of the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a clothing wire; and

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a cross section of a clothing wire.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are shown in the drawings. Each embodiment is provided by way of explanation of the invention, and not as a limitation of the invention. For example features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be combined with another embodiment to yield still another embodiment. It is intended that the present invention include these and other modifications and variations to the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a clothing wire 1 having a root 2 and a blade 3. In this embodiment, the root 2 and the blade 3 extend over the overall height h₁ of 7.5 mm. The blade 3 is provided with teeth 4 which are situated in succession along the clothing wire 1 at specific intervals, the so-called tooth pitch p. The teeth 4 have identical shapes, and are regularly arranged along the clothing wire 1 with a tooth pitch p of 10 mm.

The teeth 4 have a tooth depth h₆ of 4.5 mm, and on the side facing away from the root 2 end in a first tip 5 and a second tip 6. The tooth depth h₆ extends from the first tooth tip 5 to the tooth base 8. The first tip 5 is joined to the second tip 6 via a concave tip face 7. In the exemplary embodiment shown according to FIG. 1, the concave tip face 7 is designed with a circular recess having a radius D of 3 mm. At the location of the second tip 6, the tooth 4 has a lower tooth depth than the tooth depth h₆ at the location of the first tooth tip 5. This difference in height between the second tooth tip 6 and the first tooth tip 5 results in a height difference E of 0.02 to 0.5 mm. The height difference E results from a lower overall height of the clothing wire 1 at the location of the second tip 6 compared to the overall height h₆ at the first tip 6 of the tooth 4. The tooth base 8 is always the same distance from the root 2.

The tooth 4 has a tooth length C of 3.5 mm, the tooth length C corresponding to the distance from the first tip 5 to the second tip 6 of the tooth 4. The so-called front face 9, which, viewed in the direction of movement, leads from the tooth tip 5 to the tooth base 8, represents the front tooth face. The working angle α is the angle between the front face 9 and the vertical axis of the wire base. Viewed in a first working direction X, the working angle α is illustrated to be 10°, and in a second working direction Y the working angle β is likewise illustrated to be 10°. The front face 9, viewed in the first working direction X, with a tooth base radius G of 2 mm, is joined to the tooth base 8. Viewed in the second working direction Y, a tooth base radius of likewise 2 mm is provided. The exemplary embodiment shown thus represents a tooth 4 having a symmetrical shape, disregarding the height difference E between the second tip 6 and the first tip 5.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic illustration of a cross section of a clothing wire 1 in various embodiments. A clothing wire 1 having a root 2 and a blade 3 is illustrated in all embodiments. The blade 3, starting from the root 2, tapers to a blade width b₃ of 0.8 mm at the first tip 5.

A clothing wire 1 in an embodiment having a normal flat root 2 is illustrated in the left diagram of FIG. 2. This embodiment of the clothing wire 1 corresponds to the standard design used in machines for fiber processing processes. The middle diagram shows an embodiment of a clothing wire 1 having a concatenated root 2, which is used in openers, for example. The right diagram shows an embodiment of the clothing wire 1 having an interlocking root 2, which is used in cleaners, for example.

Modifications and variations can be made to the embodiments illustrated or described herein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 clothing wire -   2 root -   3 blade -   4 tooth -   5 first tip of a tooth -   6 second tip of a tooth -   7 tip face -   8 tooth base -   9 tooth front face -   α working angle in a first working direction -   β working angle in a second working direction -   h₁ overall height of the wire -   h₆ tooth depth -   C tooth length -   D radius of the tip face -   E height difference -   p tooth pitch -   G tooth base radius for the first tip -   H tooth base radius for the second tip -   b₃ blade width at the tip -   X first working direction -   Y second working direction 

1-12: (canceled)
 13. A clothing wire for clothed elements for use in textile machines, comprising: a root, and a blade, the root and blade having an overall combined wire height (h₁) of 1.5 mm to 15 mm; the blade comprising teeth having a tooth depth (h₆) of 0.5 mm to 10 mm, and having a tooth pitch (p) of 1.5 mm to 15 mm; viewed in a first working direction of the clothing wire, the teeth comprising a first tip with a first working angle (α), and viewed in a second working direction of the clothing wire, the teeth comprising a second tip with a second working angle (β); at each tooth, the first tip joined to the second tip via a concave tip face; and a height difference (E) of 0.02 mm to 0.5 mm between the second tip and the first tip.
 14. The clothing wire according to claim 13, wherein the first working angle (α) is between −10° and 30° and the second working angle (β) is between −10° and 30°.
 15. The clothing wire according to claim 13, wherein the first working angle (α) and the second working angle (β) are equal.
 16. The clothing wire according to claim 13, a tooth length (C) from the first tip to the second tip is 2.5 mm to 7.5 mm.
 17. The clothing wire according to claim 16, wherein the tip face has a radius (D) of 1.5 mm to 7 mm.
 18. The clothing wire according to claim 16, wherein the clothing wire has a blade width (b3) of 0.05 mm to 1.5 mm at the first tip.
 19. The clothing wire according to claim 13, wherein the first tip comprises a tooth base radius (G) of 0.3 mm to 4.0 mm.
 20. The clothing wire according to claim 13, wherein the first tip comprises a tooth base radius that is equal to the tooth base radius of the second tip.
 21. The clothing wire according to claim 13, wherein the root comprises one of a flat, interlocking, or concatenated design.
 22. A roller for a textile machine, comprising a clothing wire according to claim 13 wound onto the roller.
 23. The roller according to claim 22, wherein the roller comprises a symmetrical design and is usable in both rotational directions. 